Outside of the massive group of fans fueling Conor McGregor Mania, observers in MMA circles tend to believe Frankie Edgar has earned himself the next featherweight title shot.

Sure, Edgar lost to champion Jose Aldo back in February 2013, and there’s no doubt pitting McGregor against the champ would draw massive pay-per-view numbers.

But those are really the only two things holding the 33-year-old back.

He’s coming off a massive win against presumed next-in-line Cub Swanson a couple weeks ago, and is riding a three-fight win streak.

There’s no other fighter in the featherweight division with as impressive a recent resume, and you had better believe Edgar’s let the UFC’s powers-that-be know he wants another shot at Aldo.

“I called (UFC president Dana White) and said ‘I’m just calling you and you know what I’m calling for’ and of course he knew,” Edgar told MMAFighting.com on Tuesday at the press conference to announce the UFC’s new multi-year sponsorship deal with Reebok.

“I’m not going to harp on it. I’m definitely going to let it be known that I want it, though. Squeaky wheel gets the oil type of thing.”

Edgar insisted he hadn’t gotten any feedback on his request one way or another and then promptly refused to be goaded into talking trash about McGregor.

The Irishman would seem to be the only other fighter who the UFC would consider as an alternative to Edgar for a title shot. He’s charismatic and has seen his popularity skyrocket in 2015 as he’s charmed fans with his cocky attitude and constant trash talk.

Plenty of fighters have come out and said McGregor doesn’t deserve a shot, but while they’ve been sparring on Twitter recently, Edgar acknowledged that if McGregor beats Dennis Siver, it might be impossible for the UFC to resist the lucrative payday that would come with giving him a title shot.

“I don’t want to say that’s what I think is going to happen because I don’t want that to happen,” Edgar said. “I’m not going at him, I’m just making it known -- that’s not my thing.

“He’s gonna sell pay-per-views and that’s what they want, but a few people have said they want to see me fight, too. It’s just the nature of the business, he’s doing a good job promoting himself.”

REEBOK DEAL

The UFC’s multi-year apparel deal has generally been positively received, although it’s unclear if there are any fighters who would be stupid enough to speak out against their employers if they weren’t happy with it.

The deal will see all fighters outfitted by Reebok starting next summer, with the company designing specific outfits for specific fighters. It’s a step towards a more unified, professional look in the sport, and is consistent with MMA’s efforts to become more mainstream.

The main question would seem to be about the pay structure. White has insisted that almost all of the money from the deal will be going to the fighters, which is appropriate. For emerging fighters, sponsorships can be as important a source of revenue as actual prize money.

The pay scale will pay champions the most money, followed by fighters ranked No. 1 to No. 5 in their division, then No. 6 to No. 10, then No. 11 to No. 15, and then unranked fighters.

If there’s an issue with that system it’s that the UFC’s rankings are voted on by the media and are highly subjective.

It’s unfortunate there’s not any sort of points-based system that wouldn’t rely on us hardy media folk to determine the number on a fighter’s paycheque.